Wednesday
Mar112009
Republicans Challenge Obama Budget
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 6:13PM
Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News
Speaking on behalf of both House and Senate Republicans, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) presented a joint Republican rebuttal to the president’s budget. Calling it, as Pence said, ”In a very real sense, a blueprint for the future,” they didn’t like it.
Spence said that Republicans would “collaborate…to both challenge the assumptions and the content of the president’s budget, as well as offer positive, substantive alternatives for responsible growth.” He said the budget spends “unprecedented amounts in new ways.”
“According to independent estimates, the government may have to hire 250,000 new federal bureaucrats just to pass out all the money,” he said, and, “This is the largest tax increase in history.” Adding that it would mainly affect small business owners filing as individuals.
Pence went on to say that the new energy tax would cost every American up to $3,125 per year.
He also said that this would be the highest level of borrowing ever.
Alexander stated that, “The question before the American people is whether the American family can afford the Democrats’ spending, the Democrats’ taxing, and the Democrats’ borrowing. And we’ve got four weeks to make that case, starting with this week.”
“This budget doubles the debt in five years, and it triples it in ten years,” he said, adding, “and there’s talk of a second stimulus package.”
Both men agreed that across-the-board tax cuts would be preferable to spending for stimulus.
Speaking on behalf of both House and Senate Republicans, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) presented a joint Republican rebuttal to the president’s budget. Calling it, as Pence said, ”In a very real sense, a blueprint for the future,” they didn’t like it.
Spence said that Republicans would “collaborate…to both challenge the assumptions and the content of the president’s budget, as well as offer positive, substantive alternatives for responsible growth.” He said the budget spends “unprecedented amounts in new ways.”
“According to independent estimates, the government may have to hire 250,000 new federal bureaucrats just to pass out all the money,” he said, and, “This is the largest tax increase in history.” Adding that it would mainly affect small business owners filing as individuals.
Pence went on to say that the new energy tax would cost every American up to $3,125 per year.
He also said that this would be the highest level of borrowing ever.
Alexander stated that, “The question before the American people is whether the American family can afford the Democrats’ spending, the Democrats’ taxing, and the Democrats’ borrowing. And we’ve got four weeks to make that case, starting with this week.”
“This budget doubles the debt in five years, and it triples it in ten years,” he said, adding, “and there’s talk of a second stimulus package.”
Both men agreed that across-the-board tax cuts would be preferable to spending for stimulus.
Boehner Accuses Pelosi Of Killing Jobs And Creating More CO2 Through Waxman-Markey Support
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) voiced strong opposition Thursday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) support of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as the Waxman-Markey bill.
Boehner began a press conference Thursday asking, “Where are the jobs?”, complaining that three million jobs have already been lost this year and that new jobs are not coming from government spending but from small businesses. He then stated that the upcoming Waxman-Markey bill would force small businesses to pay more for high energy and cost 2.3 to 2.7 million Americans their jobs.
“Mark my words, the American people are going to remember this vote. This will be a defining moment and a defining vote in this Congress,” said Boehner.
The Minority Leader argued that the bill will not cause carbon dioxide emissions to decrease, but will instead result in an increase. Once the high energy sector jobs have been shipped overseas, the energy companies in India and China will import more American coal, Boehner explained. He added that since China and India do not have the technology America does, when the country burns the coal to produce energy they will create five times more carbon dioxide emissions than if the coal was burned in the U.S.
“[Waxman-Markey] is the most convoluted idea I’ve ever seen,” Boehner said.